One Friend to Another
by Buckeye2005
Summary: Tony gives McGee some advice when they both share the same role. Nothing but fluff. Future fic, Ziva!lives fic. One-shot.


**A/N: So much fluff it will rot your teeth. Enjoy.**

* * *

Wow, Tim thought, staring down at the wrapped up bundle in the bassinet. He shook his head, still marveling at the fact that this was real. I'm a father, he thought, smiling down at the baby, who barely moved a muscle. The infant breathed deeply, his little nostrils fluttering with each exhale. What did babies dream about? At one week old, he wasn't sure what little Jack was thinking about. Probably entailed when his next bottle would be or if someone would change his diaper. "You probably have no idea what we're doing with you," he whispered. He'd taken to talking to him. He read that it was good to talk to babies. It stimulated their brain activity.

He wanted to pick him up and hold him, but Delilah warned that he would be dead before he hit the ground if he woke up the baby when the baby was sleeping. She was sleeping, taking the whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" very seriously, but he couldn't possibly nap. Not when his son was in here. He was still getting used to thinking like that. He and Delilah were actually parents. They'd been trying for over three years. Right after they got married, Delilah said they had to start planning. She'd be unable to carry a child because of her spinal cord injury, but that didn't mean they couldn't go any other route. After two failed adoption attempts, they'd gone the surrogate route, and it had succeeded at the first take.

Now after nine months, here was the product. They got to leave the hospital with him and everything. McGee thought that was kind of insane. How did they just let you leave the hospital with a human without bothering to check your background? Not that there was anything wrong with him and Delilah, but…it was a whole person! They were responsible for him for the rest of his life. "You'll be a good kid," he said, his arms folded on top of the bassinet. He smiled when Jack seemed to acknowledge this with a tiny hand twitch. "Yeah. You'll be a good one. I'll make sure of it."

But what if he wasn't the best? It wasn't like he had a great role model. In the end it didn't matter, his father was gone. He'd had a terrible relationship with the man. He knew his father was doing what he thought was right, but that didn't mean it was. Would that happen with him? He swallowed hard. He hadn't really thought this through. "What if I'm awful?" he whispered. He looked at the sleeping baby. "What if you hate me?"

"Not possible, it'd be like hating Bambi, no one hates Bambi."

His face immediately lifted from the bassinet railing. He slowly peered over his shoulder, scowling. "Who let you in the house?"

"Little skill the wifey taught me."

"What in God's name is that on your chest?"

Tony stepped back, holding his arms out and grinning. "It's the Snuggler! Patent pending of course. It's like a Bjorn, but better."

"It looks like a medieval torture device."

"I'll make you one, it's really easy." All it looked like to Tim was a scarf that was wrapped in a very complicated fashion around Tony's shoulders and midsection to pin a large blob against his chest.

He frowned and craned his neck. "What's in there?"

"I'm offended McGee. This is a bonding time for us, so I brought my little guy." Tony reached into the scarf and clicked his tongue, carefully lifting up a sleeping baby, who didn't even move or make a sound as he was unceremoniously taken out of his nest. He curled him back up in the scarf, only this time moving it so that the baby was still scooped up and secure, but turned outward towards the rest of the world, nestled in the crook of Tony's elbow. "See? My little dude, your little dude."

Even McGee had to smile at that. What a world they lived in where both of them were now parents. Except Tony had more experience in that area than him. Which was both shocking and disturbing on several levels. "How did you get here so fast? We told you guys like two days ago, I thought you were in Israel?"

"Nah, we headed back to France."

"What a life, all that international travel."

"All those former Mossad safehouse, let me tell you. Eli David liked to escape in style, the one in France is some old guest house at a castle. Pretty sweet." Tony sat down in the rocker beside the bassinet, glancing over at the baby. "Nice. Looks like Delilah. Thank God."

He rolled his eyes, but he fully expected teasing. He shrugged. "Well good for him then, Delilah's not bad looking." He looked over at the baby in Tony's arms. "I see you have another Ziva look-alike."

"Thank God," Tony mumbled, his face instantly lighting up when looking at his son. He reached over and adjusted the scarf a bit, moving him closer to his heart. He didn't look up while he fussed over the baby. "Not as much as Tali though. He's got my eyes. Senior insists they share the same nose, although why he wants that feature to be the same I have no idea."

"Any plans for another? Maybe you'll finally get your mini-me."

"Have you met my daughter?" Tony grinned. Oh yeah, Tim thought, nodding. Nevermind. Tali DiNozzo might look like her mother's identical twin, but her personality was all loud, obnoxious, loveable DiNozzo. Right down to the movie references. Everything was Disney with a spattering of Dreamworks. He once got in trouble because he said he hadn't seen all the _Toy Story_ movies and she'd burst into tears and said he could not possibly be her friend anymore. They had to sit and watch all three in a row, with her narrating the entire time, for her to be happy.

He looked back to Tony, who was once again staring at his son. "So? Any plans for a third? You guys going to form your own basketball team?"

He shook his head, his voice soft. "No. Ziva wanted a boy and a girl. She said one was more than she ever thought she'd have and two was just right. Besides, never let your kids outnumber you McGoo, remember that. Rule #4 of Tony's Rules of Parenting."

Oh boy, here it came, the inevitable. He nodded and looked down at Jack, whispering. "Rule #1, never wake a sleeping baby. But it's so hard, just look at him."

"That's not Rule#1, that's Rule#2."

"So what's Rule#1?"

"I'll get to that. Now McGee there are separate rules. You see I am the only one who has had two." He held up two fingers like Mcgee didn't know how many two actually was. He continued to pontificate, while also reaching into the bag that he'd had on his shoulder when he'd come into the room along with the baby. He didn't bother looking as he took out a bottle and shook it up, passing it over to the baby. McGee frowned, looking at the little boy, who was barely awake as he immediately latched on and started drinking his bottle.

He pointed, frowning and confused. "How did you…?"

"Rule #5, always set a schedule. It's a quarter to 12, he eats at a quarter to 12, like clockwork." He held up a finger though. "Rule #10…kids don't always set schedules, keep that in mind. Rule #9 says that multi-tasking is your friend, so learn it and learn it good." He continued. "Rule #11 is more akin to the females, so if you ever have a girl, keep it in mind." He shook his head, his voice dropping softly. "Never, ever, ever….oh shoot, I forgot…" He lifted up the baby and switched him to his other shoulder, taking out a burp rag. He shook his head slightly. "Rule #13, always listen to what they like, but keep in #6, which says that kids don't always know what they like."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Tali once said she hated chicken fingers even though she'd never tried them. I always thought that was weird, so I told her the stuff in her mac and cheese one day was magic and would make her strong." He shrugged. "Rule #14, lie when necessary."

He shook his head, disagreeing. "No, I won't lie to my son."

"Suit yourself, but when he asks you where babies come from, you better be prepared."

Oh that kind of lying, well that might be okay. "Well…I don't know, I mean he should know the truth of things." He frowned and nodded towards Tony. "Well what'd you tell Tali when she asked?"

The other man pondered on that for a bit, his forehead wrinkling as he frowned. "Well she didn't so much ask as she crawled under Ziva's skirt in the middle of the market and demanded to know how come she couldn't see the baby. Then she very wisely wondered how it was possible that I put it there when Ziva told her that Abba put it there. Then she proceeded to ask how the baby came out if Ima was as fat as she was." He held up his finger, chuckling. "Rule #19. Never get offended. They say the darndest things. Rolls into Rule #20, embarrassment is for the weak. You'll become strong, young grasshopper, when your kids starts asking such questions in the middle of a busy market." He frowned deeper again, remembering something else. "Now that I think about it, people were probably more weirded out. We were in France and she was speaking Hebrew…huh, go figure. Anyway, you should be writing these down."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll remember." He wondered if Ziva had her own rules involving how not to kill her husband. He couldn't imagine living with this 24/7. Somehow it worked for them. Speaking of his better half... "Where is Ziva?"

"She's with Tali back at Gibbs's place. I woke up and found them both downstairs asleep in the frame of one of his boats." He shook his head, frowning slightly. "Very strange, those David women."

Then he proceeded to set the bottle and the burp rag aside, cooing at the baby in his arms and speaking in some sort of language that it took Tim a moment to realize was Hebrew. Then the tune of it he recognized and laughed. "One Little Goat," he answered. He shook his head. "Nice." Very strange, those DiNozzo men, he thought, when they both stuck their tongues out at each other and made silly faces. The baby smiled, grinning up, showing off a series of nubby teeth. "How old is he now?" he wondered out loud.

Tony lifted him up out of the sling, bouncing the baby on his knee. "Eight months." He dropped the infant down to his face and quickly smacked a kiss on his nose. "He's going to drop off to sleep in a few minutes." He curled him back up into the sling and held him close.

It didn't take but a minute before the newest DiNozzo quietly yawned and burrowed a bit down into the scarf, his eyes fluttering shut. Wow. "He's on quite a schedule there."

"He's jet-lagged right now. Right DJ?"

"That what you call him?"

"DA or DJ depending on my mood, he's got two middle names for me to work with," he said, looking over at the bassinet. "How about you? Are we going with John, John John, Johnny, or Jack?"

Jack, he thought, looking down at his son. It had been Delilah's idea to name their son after his father. John McGee was such a hard name to live up to, so he went with Jack. Sometimes Delilah called him "J.J." John Jethro. That marked two little boys wandering around with that name, after their pseudo-grandfather. "Jack," he whispered. He reached down and lightly touched Jack's stomach and then whipped back, holding his hands up the second he wiggled and let out a tiny cry. Oh crap. He winced. "Did I wake him up?"

Tony hurried over to sit on the edge of the bed next to him, looking down into the crib. He wrinkled his nose and shook his head, studying him for another second. "No. Just looks like you when you couldn't figure out that I was the one who stole your X-Men comics and accidentally threw them in the to be shredded bag."

He rounded on him. "That was you?! I blamed Jimmy!"

"Eh I'm sure he deserved it anyway. Bygones be bygones and all that." Tony smiled down at the baby, shrugging. "He looks like a Jack. Jack McGee. Might as well have a set of leprechaun shoes, a pot of gold, and a pipe in his mouth. Throw a Guinness in there too."

He could only chuckle and shake his head. After a few quiet moments, the only sounds coming from David Anthony Jethro DiNozzo, who was sniffling a bit as he fell back to sleep, Tim released a long, contented sigh. "It's good to have you back Tony." He didn't realize how much he missed the man who had gone from his workplace torturer to his best friend.

There was a soft chuckle from Tony. "I'm not back…back Tim. Just a few days." He seemed apologetic.

It would be more than they could hope for if either of them planned to stay long. "Then where are you going to?" he whispered, reaching his hand back into the bassinet to lightly touch Jack's little foot, poking out from under the hospital blanket he was swaddled in.

"Back to France."

"That's kind of your permanent home, huh?"

Tony's voice was soft and reflective. "It's where we're most at peace. You'll have to come visit with the kid and Delilah one day. It's this old farmhouse in Normandy. Tali gets to speak English all she wants, because of all the tourists coming and going, and we're just this…this little Israeli-American family the locals find funny. I get to hang out with my kids all day long. Ziva is…" his voice trailed off and turned to a whisper. "She's so happy. I think she's the happiest she's ever been in her life."

That's really great. He nodded, still looking down at his son. It was hard to imagine he'd ever been this content before. There always was something missing until now. He had Delilah and he had Jack and if he never went back to work, it'd be fine. He sighed, still wondering about something. "You know Tony, you're probably one of the only people I can ask."

"Yes McGee, I do think your haircut looks like a six-year old girl's pageboy."

"Tony, seriously?" He knew the jokes were because if it was highly personal, Tony might not want to answer or get too deep with the emotions. He knew it was strange territory for them, but it was important. Tony was the only person he could talk to about this. Delilah told him not to worry, that it would be fine, he'd be a good father, but…she had loving parents that supported her and always were around for her.

After a moment, Tony shrugged. "What's up Tim?"

He took another breath and then dropped his chin down to the bassinet railing. Jack was wiggling a little more. Maybe he would wake up soon and then I can hold him. "How did you do it? When you found out you were a father? How did you deal with…with all the stuff that came before? With your dad?"

"Can't really answer Tim. I didn't become a father the normal way."

He quirked his eyebrow up and nodded. "Fair point."

"I just did it. I mean…you were there, you saw." Yeah, he remembered. They watched Tony go upstairs to Vance's office, wondering what news he'd have about what happened to Ziva, where Kort was, that sort of a thing, and then Gibbs had come downstairs and gathered them around, breaking the news in his very Gibbs way that Mossad had arrived to explain what they knew about Ziva's death and talk to Tony about something Ziva had left behind for him. They had no idea what he meant about that until Vance came downstairs and informed them all that Tony would be leaving for the day as he'd received some considerably life-changing news. Abby had been the one to ask if it was a baby, because that would be the only thing she could think of that Ziva would leave behind for him that was life-changing. She'd only been half-joking and they'd laughed about it until the look between Gibbs and Vance said it all.

He'd waited with Abby and Jimmy and Ellie, wondering when they should go up and find out what was happening. Was it a girl or a boy? What was the child's name? How come Ziva never told anyone? Palmer had the obvious question they'd all bet thinking about, "Were they together the entire time?" Then they'd gone upstairs, waiting around outside the conference room until Palmer fell against the door accidentally and Tony had opened it up on them, telling them to go away while he dealt with this.

"You were like a zombie," he commented.

"That's kind of what fatherhood is a bit like Tim. You stumble through it and hope you don't kill anyone."

"I'll get that needle-pointed on a pillow."

Tony shrugged and sighed again. His grip visibly tightened around his sleeping son. "I had to deal with it in an instant, Tim. My daughter's mother was dead for all intents and purposes and I was all she had left. I couldn't think about myself, I had to think about her. It came so fast. It was like lightening in my chest or something. I mean…I wondered why I didn't know about her before, what was Ziva's game in not telling me about her…but it didn't matter because she was gone and I was all Tali had. Everything between my dad and I was just nothing compared to that. He was a good Grandpa too. The minute he found out…I think if I brought home a stray dog he'd probably have the same feelings, but he was better with her in the first minute of knowing her than he'd ever been with me in my childhood. Being a grandparent is his second chance, he told me once. He wasn't going to blow it."

I wonder if my father would see it the same way. He captured Jack's foot, which was zooming around as the baby awakened. "I got your foot," he whispered to him, smiling. Jack let out a little whine and opened his eyes some more, blinking up at them. "I wonder what they think about."

"Food, poop, sleep, repeat."

"Yeah, but still, like when they see your face. What do you think Tali thought?"

"I thought she thought she saw a very handsome prince. Then I realized later that she actually knew who I was. I think she was processing that this was the real person from the photo she had. She knew the guy in the picture was Abba, but now the guy in the picture is walking around and talking to her. Took her a few days to comprehend." He moved David into his other arm, patting his back as the baby fussed a bit. "It's a pretty insane thing Tim. It's your whole world now. Nothing matters compared to them."

I can already feel that. He nodded. "I never want him to leave."

"It was different with David. I was there the whole time. I got to hold him when he was born, something I missed with Tali." His voice dropped again, breathing. "It puts everything I perspective. My dad did what he did when I was a kid. He made mistakes, he's admitted that, and he's making up for them through his grandkids, but…that's what I know not to do. You'll see it too."

"My dad loved us in his own way," he whispered.

"Ziva's dad loved her in his own way. Parents are weird things Tim. I think I understand a lot more now that I am one. They just go about it in ways they think are right. Sometimes they might be at the time…my dad sending me to boarding school after my mom died, I thought that was the worst thing he could have done. I wanted my dad. I mean…my mom was gone and he was all I had. To him though, he thought he was weak, that he couldn't do it alone without her, so sending me away was the best thing he could do as a father. I get that now." He shrugged and shook his head. "But the way I feel…I don't even want Tali to go off on her first day of kindergarten without me there."

He chuckled. Yeah, he could see that. He just wondered what kind of a parent he could be when he has his dad as his only role model. The hardnosed Admiral McGee wouldn't be caught dead dirtying his dress whites to play a game of catch outside. He thought the computers were a waste of time unless it meant he'd be working computers on a Navy ship. He propped his head in his hand, his elbow on the bassinet railing. "Thanks for the bassinet Tony," he whispered. It was David's, before he outgrew it, the card from Ziva had said.

"Thought you guys could use it. Since we're not going to have any more kids, that we know of, I mean Ziva and I aren't really good at the whole planning for children thing, it just kind of happens, you guys can keep it for any other future little McGees."

"It looks handmade."

"Because it is."

"Who?" Although he had a sneaky suspicion. He glanced at Tony, whose look clearly indicated as much. "Gibbs? Really?"

"I think you've found your father figure, Tim." He looked down at David, who was awake again, but was playing with his father's fingers, alternating shaking them and biting them. "Gibbs is many things, but when it comes down to it, he's been a good father to us."

That was very true. "He came by yesterday," he whispered. He glanced at Tony, who quirked his eyebrow up like 'oh really?' "Yeah, really. Shocked me too. I thought he'd come to tell me to get back to work. He brought Delilah flowers, told me Vance gave me as much paternity leave as I wanted so long as it was less than three months because he couldn't afford to lose me that long, and then he gave me a hug and told me that I would be just fine. You know I felt like I would be. Then I started wondering."

"Yes, the wondering." Tony seemed nostalgic, leaning his head back to hit against the wall beside him. "The bone-crushing, heart-sickening feeling that everything you will ever do will never amount to anything and your kid will hate you for life no matter what you do. It consumes you. Sends you into a tailspin of nothingness…"

They both trailed off, staring off to nothing. Then McGee shook his head quickly. "No! Tony! You're going to make me go there again!" The dark wondering about his abilities as a human, much less as a father. It was a dark place to be.

"Sorry McGee. Got carried away. It's the French thing now, I think in artsy terms and stuff. No, you'll be fine." He clapped his back for extra measure. "I'm serious now Tim, I mean it. Trust me, if I can do this, you got it in the bag."

"Look at my father though. I miss him Tony, I do…you don't realize it until they're gone. I wonder what he'd do as a grandfather." Would Admiral McGee see Jack as an opportunity to finally get the Navy son he wanted? Or would he realize that this was his second chance, much the way Senior saw his grandchildren? They'd come back at Christmastime and he'd had a chance to see Senior with the kids for the first time. It was like a whole different person than the one he'd met over a decade ago in the NCIS bullpen, a much more suave version of Tony that seemed disappointed in his son, a familiar look for him, but in a less harsh and open way than the Admiral's disappointment had been.

"Well Tim, having only met the Admiral a couple times myself, I can't say, but it does nothing to wonder about what would have been." His voice dropped. "It never leads to anything good. Trust me."

"What would you have to wonder about? Your dad is alive, I mean…" McGee trailed off, sighing and frowning. "I just wonder if he'd be different."

Tony didn't say anything for a few minutes. David let out a little whine and he lifted him up, reaching his fingers around for David to keep playing with. "I don't wonder about my dad McGee. I wonder what it would have been like if I'd been there for Tali's birth…raised her from the beginning…had a chance to think on it like you did. Would I be different? Would she be different?" He shrugged. "Then I realized I was resenting Ziva and I wasn't being a good dad to her because I was wondering about the rest. Don't do that to yourself Tim. Just…be yourself. That's the only thing you can do and you're good at it. I mean, you're the only McGee, you know?"

Yeah, that made sense. He squinted at Jack, whose eyes were completely open. "What if I screw him up?" he mumbled.

"Then you screw him up and wait until you have grandkids to fix it."

"Tony, come on."

"Well I'm actually being serious, I mean just do what you think is best, you're going to be fine. Besides, you've got Delilah. I mean…you both are meant to be parents. You're both patient and kind and smart and…and…I mean look and me and Ziva, okay?" He laughed, gesturing to himself and then down to David, who was gurgling. "Did you honestly think when you knew us together that we'd end up married with two kids, living in France?"

"Absolutely not." He paused. "I thought she would have killed you in the bullpen within a year."

"I thought that myself sometimes."

"I guess towards the end there we wondered if it would happen, but…no, I really didn't think any of this would be possible."

"Well see? And we're not half bad at it and let me tell you, it's going to be completely normal when you don't know what the hell is happening, when they're screaming their bloody heads off and nothing you do can help them, and they're going to hate you. They will. Tali told me the other day she'd rather have Gibbs as her dad. I know it came from a place of anger, but it freaking hurt. Then I told her that Gibbs doesn't have cable and she can't watch all her movies on his black and white TV and she came around to loving me again, you just have to accept it will happen and it's hard, but Tim…I swear to God…" he trailed off and laughed, nodding to the bassinet. "Then they do that."

Do what? He glanced down at Jack and his eyes widened. He hadn't even noticed that the newborn had freed his hand from the fold of his swaddle and was gripping his finger hard. What a grip for such a little thing, he thought. He reached into the bassinet, unable to help himself now, and carefully lifted up Jack, making sure he had his head in the palm of his hand, and his other hand supporting his back, the way they'd learned in parenting class. He'd never held a newborn until he held his son. He wasn't heavier than he thought and even a few days later, he was heavier than he was when he was first born. "Wow," he whispered.

"Yeah."

Jack peered up, his eyes bright blue, like Delilah's. His mouth opened and closed and he seemed to blink and squint, trying to see what was above him. McGee remembered that babies couldn't see beyond about a foot. He leaned closer to his son could see him. "Hey," he whispered. "What are you doing awake?" He laughed as Jack wrinkled his nose and then made a sound kind of like a cough or sneeze. "What was that?"

Wow Tony was right. This was…it felt like everything was going away. All the fear and the wondering. "See what I mean?" Tony whispered. "It doesn't matter. You just have to be there and you'll be fine with that Tim."

I will, he vowed. He glanced sideways at Tony. "It's really hard, huh?"

"Hardest job in the world, but like I said, I'd rather do this the rest of my life than anything else. Tell me that a decade ago and I'd probably shoot you on sight. I mean…kids are weird and they're gross and they're terrifying. Then they do things like that or…or this…" He gestured to David who now had his tiny arm wrapped completely around his father's, his head pillowed in the crook of his elbow. "And it all goes away."

He'd never know what John McGee was thinking when he left his children in favor of long deployments and advancement up the Navy chain. Duty and honor for your country above your children. He'd heard Tony refer to his childhood as _The Great Santini_. Out of curiosity he'd watched that movie to see what it was about, since Tony's movie references were 100% spot on, even though he'd never admit it. It seemed about right. He felt Jack curve closer to him and smiled down at the little thing. "My father loved us, he just wanted to provide," he whispered. And when we didn't adhere immediately to what he wanted, he was disappointed. It was hard to listen to a guy who was never there.

I won't ever do that, he vowed. I'll provide for you but I will always be there. He glanced at Tony. "I didn't understand why you left, but now I do." The risk associated with their job. He would go back, because he was Senior Field Agent, but he would be more careful. He'd make sure that he came home every night. That his work wouldn't keep him from being there for Jack. Push came to shove, he'd request a transfer to the sub-basement. He'd sit there for the rest of time if it meant he could come home to his son each night.

"You'll be a good dad McGee. I mean you're basically a child yourself," his friend teased.

He rolled his eyes, but smiled. The door cracked open to the bedroom and he looked over, smiling. "Hey Gibbs. I didn't know you were stopping by."

"Well look at this," Gibbs commented, a vague smile twisting on his lips. "You teaching him the ropes DiNozzo?"

"Well he is the Probie now here again Boss."

Gibbs waved his finger between the both of them. "Your wives are looking for you. DiNozzo, you've got someone else who is looking too." He glanced down the hallway and chuckled. "Here she comes."

"Uh oh, brace yourself McGee."

"Why?" He found out a second later as a little blur of dark curly hair and a pink dress came flying into the room, her finger up to her lips. He grinned at her. "Hey Tali. What are you up to?"

"See the baby, gotta' be quiet," she whispered loudly, her finger still up to her lips. She giggled and grinned. "Ima says." She peered down at Jack, who he turned slightly so she could see his face. Her fingers wiggled to touch him, but she kept them to herself. "Oooh….he's little."

"Just like you were once."

Tony climbed off the bed and carried David over to Gibbs, handing him off. "Go see Grandpa Gibbs now, Abba's arm is killing him…oof! Tali!" He grabbed Tali under her arms after she'd flung herself at him and lifted her up onto his hip. He waved over at Tim. "We'll be downstairs, you want me to send anyone up?"

"Nah, I'll be fine, thanks. I'll be down in a minute." Jack would be ready to eat soon, but he didn't want to let him go just yet. He waited a moment and then glanced down at his son, smiling at him. "That's your crazy Uncle Tony. Every family needs one. Don't worry though, your Aunt Ziva is the sane one in that family."

"I am pleased to hear it."

He turned quickly, smiling at the sight of his old friend. She walked slowly from her perch leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed over her chest. She moved to sit beside him on the edge of the bed, leaning to brush her knuckles against Jack's soft cheek. She whispered something in Hebrew and dragged her thumb across his forehead, beneath the brim of the blue cotton cap covering his semi-bald head. He'd probably have blond hair like I did as a kid, he figured. "You decided to come over," he said. "Tony said you and Tali were sleeping, jet lag."

"Hmm, he could not wait until we were ready, he had to be here to see you." She chuckled, her voice dropping as she studied the baby. "He was like a child on the flight over. Wanted to tell you all the wisdom of being a father. I must say, we both were excited, but you'd think it was Tony who was having the baby. You're his best friend Tim. I know he wanted you to know as much as he did about being a father." She smirked. "It is not like the three of us had…normal childhoods."

No, neither of them could say that. "He was really that excited, huh?"

"You know how Tony can get."

"Yes, I do at that." He patted Jack's back when the baby began to cry. He winced. He hated that sound. "I guess he's hungry."

"Well let's take him downstairs then, shh, shh," Ziva cooed, her voice quiet and calm, the Hebrew soothing Jack into a low whine. She stood with him, walking out of the room. "Fatherhood looks good on you McGee, even I daresay makes you more handsome." She grinned, looking at Delilah, who had just wheeled over, smiling at them both. "You have a very good-looking husband Delilah. The baby just makes him more desirable."

"Are you flirting with another man, sweetcheeks?"

"Of course _mon petit pois_." She bumped her shoulder into Tony's, her eyes lighting up at the baby sleeping in his arms. "Ah, _Mon bébé, viens a maman_." She pushed Tony's shoulder, walking by him. "Come, let's go find Tali."

Delilah just laughed as the couple walked away, one speaking in French and the other in Hebrew, Tony replying back to something Ziva had asked him in the other language. "They crack me up, she's funnier than you said she would be."

He forgot that Delilah had never met Ziva until recently. "Yeah, she can be quite funny. She's pretty happy now, so I think it comes out more often." He gestured to Jack. "I think he's hungry. Feeding time." He saw a sad look cross Delilah's face as she took Jack from him. He rested his hand on her shoulder. As much as he feared being a father, he couldn't imagine what his wife was going through. She was a mother who couldn't even feed her child the way most mothers could. She couldn't even give birth to him, someone else had to do it. "It's okay," he whispered. "We'll figure this out."

She nodded and smiled, patting Jack's back. "Yeah. We will. I was talking to my mom. She's going to stay a few extra days…do not look at me like that!" she laughed. "It's no big deal, it's just to help out while we figure out how to be parents. Until we get a schedule."

He nodded. Delilah's mother wasn't too bad. Could be worse. He chuckled, thinking of another option. "Well we could have someone else staying with us for a longer time."

She grinned. "Yeah, could be worse than my Mom."

They both looked up when footsteps pounded down the hallway. Tony grinned, holding Tali on his hip. Both of them looked way too excited for their own good. "Guess what McGee!? Talked to Wifey and we're staying longer! I get to hang around to help you with the Little McGee!" He waved his hand in the air and Tali whooped, waving her arms and giggling. "Get ready for the Full Anthony DiNozzo Parenting Experience."

"Get ready!" Tali said.

Tony grinned again and then turned, running back down the hallway, Tali laughing the entire time. McGee frowned and glanced down at Delilah's horrified expression. He shook his head quickly. "They won't be a problem, I swear, I'll deal with him." He kissed Jack's head and grinned, hurrying away towards Tony to corral him.

A few hours later, he lay on the couch, Jack on his chest. Gibbs had left after dropping off some gifts from the office. Tony was fast asleep on his stomach on the loveseat, one hand in the car seat where David was sleeping and Tali stretched out on his back, using her father's head as her pillow. He looked up at Ziva, who was leaning against the back of the couch, shaking her head at them. "I have to admit, getting parenting advice from Tony kind of scared me, but I actually think it will work."

"He works hard at it," Ziva said softly. She smiled down at him, her eyes sparkling. "He struggles. It's not easy. There are good days and bad days."

"He makes it seem like it's no big deal."

She chuckled and shook her head. "You don't know."

"Know what?"

She shrugged, whispering. "That he was scared, Tim. He wanted another girl so badly. When the midwife said it was a boy, he panicked. I could see it in his eyes. He was happy. He was thrilled of course, but he was terrified. I see the same look in your eyes too. I know he is a clown, but he is our clown, and he deals with the hard things by laughing about them, you know this to be true."

Yes, of course he did. He looked at Jack and smiled at his son's content expression. Or it could have just been gas, as Gibbs as told him earlier when he commented that Jack was already smiling. He looked up at Ziva, whispering. "I think this is going to be a very interesting era we're embarking on. All of us parents."

"It certainly will be," she murmured, leaning down to touch Jack's head gently. She murmured something in Hebrew and then straightened up, smiling at him. "You will be a wonderful father McGee and your relationship with your father should not prevent you from believing so. Just do what your gut tells you to do and always follow the rules."

"Tony's Rules or Gibbs' Rules?"

"Your own rules." She walked around the side of the couch and lightly touched Tony's shoulder. She lifted Tali up and cradled her close and then bent her knees and lifted up the car seat with one hand, grinning at him. "We'll see you later. Bye bye Jack."

Tony yawned and straightened up, holding something in the scarf still wrapped around his chest. Tim frowned and realized it was Tali's stuffed dog Kelev. He patted it like it was a baby and nodded towards him. "See you around Tim. Come on David, let's go home, Grandpa Gibbs will be waiting for us."

Tim frowned and laughed as the door swung shut behind him. He wondered how long it would take Tony to realize that he was talking to a stuffed dog and not a human baby. He looked down at Jack and kissed his son's soft head. "That's your crazy Uncle Tony. We'll miss him when he's gone." He sighed and smiled, hitting his head back against the couch armrest. He thought about Tony's advice. The worrying and the anxiety. The fear you'll become the person you most don't want to be. What kind of role model he had as a father and…and then it went away when he started thinking of Jack. The Admiral was just doing what he thought was best. He closed his eyes briefly and sighed. "Wish you were here Dad."

He fiddled with Jack's fingers and then smiled as the tiny hand wrapped tight around his thumb. He released a long breath and smiled again. It would be fine. He frowned as his phone buzzed and he fumbled, reaching for it on the floor. He smiled at the text message.

 _Rule #1…Love them with everything you got, because you don't got them for too long_

"What's so funny?" Delilah whispered, wheeling over. She picked up the phone and frowned at it. "I thought Rule #1 was never screw over your partner." She smiled again and set the phone on the coffee table. "Well I think this one is better. I'm going to take a nap. You guys alright out here?"

He nodded, looking down at the baby and smiled. "Yeah, I think we'll be just fine."

 **THE END**


End file.
